Wealth Alliance LLC Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Wealth Alliance LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 163.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,417 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,122 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $3,095,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.39 on Monday, reaching $947.56. 1,741,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,066,151. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $998.91 and a 200 day moving average of $983.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $420.22 billion, a PE ratio of 53.75, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.